Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DIS'SI-PATE, v.t. [L. dissipatus, dissipo; dis and an obsolete verb, sipo, to throw. We perhaps see its derivatives in siphon, prosapia and sept, and sepio, to inclose, may be primarily to repel, and thus to guard.]

1. To scatter; to disperse; to drive asunder. Wind dissipates fog; the heat of the sun dissipates vapor; mirth dissipates care and anxiety; the cares of life tend to dissipate serious reflections. Scatter, disperse and dissipate are in many cases synonymous; but dissipate is used appropriately to denote the dispersion of things that vanish, or are not afterward collected; as, to dissipate fog, vapor or clouds. We say, an army is scattered or dispersed, but not dissipated. Trees are scattered or dispersed over a field, but not dissipated.
2. To expend; to squander; to scatter property in a wasteful extravagance; to waste; to consume; as, a man has dissipated his fortune in the pursuit of pleasure.
3. To scatter the attention.